Smartcarpedia.org

Smart Fortwo Goes on an Arctic Adventure

admin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:40:29 +0000

Canada’s Dempster Highway, the only all-weather road into the Arctic Circle, is featured on the hit series Ice Road Truckers. 10-Ton semi trucks have a hard time getting across it. But how about the Smart fortwo? You’d be surprised how an 1800-pound Smart, doing 70 on an iced gravel road that is only 15 feet wide, will handle. Here’s the video, courtesy of Wired & Jalopnik:

Yes, Avis Rents Smart Cars

admin — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:59:36 +0000

Ever wonder what it’s like driving one of those tiny SmartCars? Well, if you head to Avis they’re renting fortwo vehicles to customers! It’s part of a green campaign to get people back into rental offices and out in rental cars. For the low price of $103 a weekend (in the Philadelphia area, at least) anyone can rent a Smart fortwo and experience what riding in a subcompact is all about.

Rental Profile:
2 Door, hi-mileage, low emissions
Now it’s easy to go green, save money on gas, and fit into even the tiniest parking spaces when you rent a Smart Car from Avis! This innovative vehicle offers maximum comfort, agility, safety, ecology, and driving fun. The low CO2 emissions, fuel-efficient, non-hybrid Smart Car has an estimated MPG rating of 33 city/42 highway. Experience the engineering expertise of a luxury car, backed by the latest active and passive safety features for children as well as adults. With Smart Cars, less is more!

Who should consider renting a Smart Car?
Business and vacation travelers who are looking for a rental car that has great gas mileage, is easy to drive and park on crowded city streets will love the Smart Car. Avis now has Smart Cars for rent in many popular vacation and business destinations across the U.S.

Smart Car Details
Seating Capacity:
X 2
Luggage Capacity:
Fuel Economy Range:
41 mpg Hwy, 33 mpg City
Car Class:
Subcompact

Quick Charge is Smart, Quick Cars Would Help

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:35:38 +0000

SmartCar, Toyota, even Chevrolet are all getting into the electric car game. In response, hundreds of “Quick Charge” stations have been contracted or constructed across the United States & Canada – but there’s hardly any cars with all EV drives to use them.

AeroVironment is the company which introduces three levels of recharger stations for North America: Level I, II and of course III. The “level” of quick chargers depends on how many volts they produce.

While Level I “chargers” consist of a cord and a 120-volt household outlet and Level II chargers offer a little more juice from a 240-volt appliance outlet, the Department of Energy defines Level III chargers as permanently wired units rated at greater than 14.4 kilowatts… as it is explained by Wired.

AeroVironment’s Quick Charge stations were originally developed for the Nissan Leaf EV and Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV cars. But now with the Chevy Volt, SmartEV and Toyota Prius Plug-in finally ready to hit the production line, it seems Quick Charge will be a successful business. Now all they have to do is wait for all these (mostly) import EV’s to come over to the United States & Canada. Oh boy…

Jill Lajdziak Comes in as Smart USA Exec

admin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:28:11 +0000

Jill Lajdziak, former Saturn head for the deceased General Motors brand, will now head SMART USA. Not much time off for Jill – just earlier this year the Saturn president was wondering if the American make would survive GM cuts and troubles facing “The Big Three.” By January 1st 2010 she’ll be taking the reigns as top dog at Smart Car’s company.

Penske Automotive has hired Jill to lead the team; she brings over 30 years experience including, but not limited to, the auto maker which brought back suicide doors on their S-Series Coupe, and we will always thanks her for it. According the Penske – “Ms. Lajdziak has a reputation for building brand awareness and customer loyalty through a focus on the customer experience and cultivating a strong dealer network. In this role, Ms. Lajdziak will lead the smart field sales organization, including directing all aspects of advertising, marketing and sales promotion for the smart brand, and will work directly with the smart dealer body to develop business opportunities.”

Penske Automotive is the exclusive distributor of the smart fortwo and related parts in the U.S. – supporting 79 smart retail centers throughout the country.

via The Oakland Press

How Green is Smart?

admin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:00:02 +0000

Smart Cars & the Smart fortwo have been branded as not only one of the smallest rides out there, but also one of the most eco-friendly. But exactly how “Green” is the Smart Car? You can’t knock the vehicle’s popularity – since 2008 alone it has sold 36,000 vehicles nationwide – not counting numbers throughout Europe – its country of origin. It’s also claimed to be the safest car in its class – though “in its class” is the operative phrase.

Smart’s construction, both size and in the bio-degradable/recyclable materials both interior and exterior are constructed from are so overly-”green” that the Environmental Protection Agency has classified it as a SmartWay vehicle, for low air pollution and greenhouse gas scores. As the car is so small, you won’t need to circle city blocks endlessly in search of a spot – as it is pretty much a perfect urban ride. This cuts own on emissions as well, – Smart’s fuel efficiency ratings range from 33 miles per gallon city to 41 highway.

Ok, so that’s kinda green – but what’s it cost? Cheaper then a Toyota Prius or even Honda’s Insight – your average Smart starting costs hover around $12,000 USD (less then some pre-owned Cadillacs!) – With a low-insurance rate and a future electric-hybrid version of fortwo to come, Smart will most likely stay near the top of most “Green” car enthusiasts list for years.

First Annual SMART Car Nationals!

admin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:16:09 +0000

Get your BBQ bib on and start the engines, Smartcar’s first annual Nationals will be held in June 2010 – the year Smart makes contact. Smart owners from around the country will gather in sunny Kansas City to show off their Fortwos and grilling capability. Boy does it sounds delicious!

1st Annual SMART Car Nationals-The Place to Be is in KC
Kansas City, June 11th, 12th, and 13th of 2010

+ Come get a taste of KC with your fellow smart car owners,
+ Local tours and events
+ Local BBQ
+ SMART car product sales, service, and installs will be available

Little Debbie Does SmartCar

admin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:26:34 +0000

Little Debbie is rolling out an army of Smart Fortwo’s in order to promote their tasty brand of junk food. They began appearing in major cities several months ago, rolling in the bike lanes with trunks full of yummy cakes & coupons. Now we know the true nature of their visits.

The brand is launching a new cupcake and, much to our clogged arteries content, a 125,000 carton cupcake giveaway, a mobile tour, a Twitter feed, a YouTube channel, a Flickr photostream, event marketing, TV spots and blog posts (ahem, want to send me some cupcakes Little Debbie??) and the giving away of two Smartcars. From October 11 through December 12, a truck filled with branded Smart cars will stop in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, Manchester, NH, Hartford, CT, Scranton, PA, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix and Los Angeles.

“Our goal was to create a bigger-than-life campaign that could be leveraged across every medium imaginable,” says Luckie & Co. Executive Vice President/Creative Director Brad White. “Who could resist a Smart Car wrapped like a Little Debbie Cupcake? Come to think of it, who could resist a Little Debbie Cupcake?”

Tailor Made – Personalized BRABUS Smart Car

admin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:04:44 +0000

Have you ever wanted your very own personalized ride? Well now you can mix & match interior, exterior and additional features with the BRABUS Tailor Made Smart Cars. BRABUS has worked with Smart before – and debuted a half-dozen “tailor made” Smart fortwo cars at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany. Some of the available options with BRABUS include – Custom paint jobs in thousands of different colors, leather in some 100 colors and exclusive design, six convertible soft top colors and smart-BRABUS accessories portfolio. Check out full details in the SMART – BRABUS Press Release below.
[nggallery id=1]

Smart BRABUS tailor made

Exclusive Variations for the smart

A custom paint job that matches your favorite lipstick? Or an exclusive interior made from your choice of countless top-quality leathers complete with matching convertible soft top? The range of custom requests from discriminating customers that smart-BRABUS can fulfill with the smart BRABUS tailor made concept is virtually limitless. At the Frankfurt Motor Show IAA 2009 smart BRABUS demonstrates that truly ‘anything goes.’ Five different smart fortwo models show how to transform the small two-seater into a personal dream car.

This new service from smart aims at all those customers who want to own a smart fortwo customized to their own specifications. To do so, smart draws upon the know-how and expertise of the smart-BRABUS joint venture.

The ‘tailor made’ program virtually sets no limit to the customer’s imagination. The list of available colors ranges from diamond-white metallic to matte black, from a fiery red to British racing green.

Available are:

- Custom paint jobs in thousands of different colors
- Automotive leather in some 100 colors and exclusive designs
- Six convertible soft top colors
- The entire smart and smart-BRABUS accessories portfolio

The ‘tailor made’ models are truly custom-tailored. They are customized ‘ex-factory’ by masterful craftsmanship using manufacturer tested and approved top-quality materials and parts. And they come with the full manufacturer’s warranty.

smart BRABUS tailor made sets new standards for stylish car customization in this class of vehicles.

How Many Smartcar Lovers Are Out There?

admin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:38:20 +0000

Just how many Smartcar lovers are there in the world? Apparently, not as many in 2009 as there were in ’08. Sales are down almost 14% so far. Yet, it seems ever since the first Smart fortwo dropped on American soil I’ve seen the numbers of them driving around quadrupole – everyone from old geezers to new drivers and all in between seem to have one. But again, reports continue to surface that Smart sales are down since last year. So, why all the enthusiasts sites online?

Just Google “Smartcar Fans” and you’ll find pages upon pages of Smart fans from across the globe. One of our favorite sites is 451s.com, which takes its name for the model number Smart vehicles made post-2008 have. This site alone consists of fortwo drivers in Europe, Canada & the United States.

According to a recent BusinessWeek article: “German carmakers Daimler, BMW and Audi said Tuesday their August sales declined from year-ago levels, though all offered more upbeat assessments, indicating the sales trends of the economic downturn are abating.” At first, the steadying fuel prices were blamed for the slowing of Smart sales – but to be honest, until Cash for Clunkers came about, no brand witnessed a major incline of closed deals. “Mercedes, Smart and Maybachs said it saw strong contributions from several regions and expected more positive results from the release of new models…” As of this month Mercedes has only sold 78,600 Smart Units YTD. Guess we will have to wait and see what fortwo Cabrio CDi does for Smart’s pocketbook in ’10.

How to Get It On in a Smart Car

admin — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:24:59 +0000

eBay Motors has started their “Master Contest” – Record a short video about your favorite car, truck or motorcycle project, explaining the best do-it-yourself project thinkable. That made us think about this Smart fortwo video which shows it is indeed possible to hit up lover’s lane in the tiny wonder. I mean, these people LOVE their Smart Car.